Docsis 3.0: Empowering Applications in the New Digital Home

Docsis 3.0: Empowering Applications in the New Digital Home

By Peter Percosan, Texas Instruments

Over the last 25 years, digital electronic technology has transformed one segment of society after another. It started with PCs, continued with the advent of wireless communication devices and the Internet and recently has taken hold with Internet connected consumer electronics and media playing devices. Along the way and behind the scenes the network infrastructure has also been transforming with digital technology. Now the focus has shifted to what's happening inside the new digital home.

Peter Percosan, Texas Instruments

By Peter Percosan, Texas Instruments

Over the last 25 years, digital electronic technology has transformed one segment of society after another. It started with PCs, continued with the advent of wireless communication devices and the Internet and recently has taken hold with Internet connected consumer electronics and media playing devices. Along the way and behind the scenes the network infrastructure has also been transforming with digital technology. Now the focus has shifted to what's happening inside the new digital home. The opportunities within the digital home seem endless as service providers are bringing a host of exciting services to consumers.

In the near future, the digital home will be filled with a new breed of digital devices and new sources of rich multimedia content. These devices will access the Internet, download, play and share media content, place telephone calls with voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) technology, display interactive video games and many other media-centric applications.

Challenge and opportunity

Part of both the challenge and the opportunity, particularly for cable operators in the digital home will be how to deliver massive amounts of content, or as much as possible, to an array of devices. Fortunately, on one level this is just a technical difficulty, and technical solutions are not beyond the scope of current technology. To best serve the digital home, cable operators will certainly turn to advanced technologies, such as DOCSIS 3.0, more powerful DSPs in switched digital video applications and new configurations of set-tops and residential gateways.

For example, DOCSIS 3.0 has the potential to download two HD movies in four minutes. If a multiple system operator (MSO) were to use DOCSIS 3.0 as simply a network upgrade technology, it would be selling the technology short and missing out on its strategic importance. On the face of it, the channel bonding techniques in DOCSIS 3.0 enable high-speed data channels, but they also give operators the ability to quickly and incrementally redeploy network capacity based on strategic business decisions, not simply in response to technical requirements.

With DOCSIS 3.0, multiple 6 MHz video channels can bond to provision high-speed data channels to meet the growing demand of video-centric applications such as IPTV and video on demand. The assumption in the marketplace is that there actually is consumer interest in the new features and services enabled by IPTV technology and that consumers place an enhanced value on such offerings. This being the case, it is fair to assume that a consumer will be willing to pay a fee for this service, much in the same way that they now pay extra for HDTV. The value proposition will likely include enhanced interactivity, near limitless choices of MSO-offered video programming, much of it niche-oriented, as well as video programming coming from sources that the MSO has no direct relationship with.

To provide additional flexibility and facilitate home networking and data-centric applications like IPTV, the DOCSIS 3.0 architecture includes several high-speed interfaces including Gigabit Ethernet and USB 2.0. In an effort to make the digital connected home a reality, DOCSIS 3.0 supports 802.11n wireless networking, powerline technologies or advanced coaxial networks that can easily be integrated into the platform. In addition, DOCSIS 3.0 includes a high-performance VoIP subsystem that ensures high quality-of-service (QoS) even in the presence of significant data traffic.

Capitalize on the digital home

The digital home is bringing a breath of fresh services to consumers and opening opportunities for service providers to engage their customers and even explore new avenues for revenue growth. Many of the familiar terms that users have been comfortable with for years are vanishing and the lines are blurring between the home's TV set and the portable video player; between video programming provided by cable operators and video content coming from the Internet. The ongoing changes brought about by the digital home are far-reaching indeed, but not overwhelming for cable operators willing to adopt new attitudes and new approaches to serving their users. The good news is that DSP-based technology is already empowering the advanced applications and services that operators can use to capitalize on the digital home.

Tell us what you see as challenges and opportunities in the digital home. Check out TI's site for details on its offerings for the digital home market at TI Offerings

About the Authors:

Peter Percosan is the executive director of broadband
strategy for TI’s Digital Connected Home Business,
Texas Instruments.

In his role as the Executive Director of Broadband Strategy for TI’s Digital Connected Home Business, Percosan provides strategic direction that aligns Texas Instruments technology strengths with the needs of the cable industry. At TI, he is also responsible for identifying market trends and providing the vision to the RGES group.

Percosan has been at TI since the acquisition of Libit Signal Processing in 1999. Prior to this position, Percosan was the vice president of strategy and business development at Libit Signal Processing. Percosan also served as vice president of strategic marketing, at Lysis SA and vice president of engineering at Ariel Corporation. Percosan has presented on the cable broadband topic at numerous technical seminars. He earned his bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of California at San Diego.

Contributing to this blog is Tom Flanagan, TI’s director, technical strategy, Digital Signal Processing Systems.

Prior to his current role, he served as the director of broadband strategy for TI’s Broadband Communications Group, where he identified market trends and provided the vision and strategic direction for TI’s extensive broadband portfolio.

Prior to this position, Flanagan was the director of business development for Telogy Networks, acquired by TI in 1999, and vice president of sales and marketing for ADC Skyline. Flanagan also held various marketing, sales and business development positions during a 12 year career with Dynatech Communications. Flanagan received his bachelor’s degree of science from James Madison University.